"I did not smoke pot in that room"

[Jester]

Duly noted.

[Mr Hero]

Is it wrong that I read this title as "I did not smoke pot in that room" ...?

And is it wrong that I read both the title and this post in Bill Clinton's voice?

A former coworker of mine had a severe allergy to latex. The story of how she discovered this allergy is hilarious. Severely embarrassing to her and her boyfriend-at-the-time, but hilarious to her family.

Let's just say they all know when her first time was.....

Unless her first time she went unprotected.

[mathnerd]

I'm gonna go out on a limb and suggest it's not an allergy, but an intolerance, just as my parents in their older age have developed an intolerance for garlic, though they can eat stuff that's been infused with it. Just as I have an intolerance for caffeine. I'm not allergic, per se, but my body really doesn't like it, or process it well.

In the case of your girlfriend, I'm thinking it's the heat of the raw peppers that causes her body issues, but their heat do go down when cooked, often severely, just as onions and garlic get sweeter and less pungent when cooked.

Just my thoughts on the matter. But as always, I reserve the right to be completely and horribly wrong.

Heat changes matter at the molecular level. In the case of proteins, the process is called denaturation. It is very possible that the change the molecule goes through during the cooking process changes the molecule causing the reaction enough so that the allergic reaction doesn't happen. This can also happen during preserving processes that use acids instead of heat. Any time there's a chemical change to the allergy causing molecule, the potential to eliminate the reaction exists.

This is actually very common (but sadly not in my case) with tomato allergies. There are many people who are allergic to raw tomatoes but can eat them in sauces and such. I know of one person who can't eat them raw or cooked, but can eat catsup. The addition of vinegar is what changes the molecules enough to make it tolerable.

[Moon]

Like another poster, I wondered how this was said... the emphasis changes everything.

*I* didn't smoke pot in that room! (Someone else did)

I didn't *SMOKE* pot in that room! (but had some and ingested it another way, brownies, vaporizer, etc)

I didn't smoke *POT* in that room! (but I did smoke something else)

I didn't smoke pot *IN* that room! (on the balcony, but left the door open)

I didn't smoke pot in *THAT* room! (but did in another room)

But yeah, it has a distinctive odor, and whether or not someone smokes it, one can definitely identify it. A little hard to play dumb, as had it been from the previous guest someone would already have done something about it.

As to the alleged syringe... this still does not change the fact the hotel has a no-smoking policy and THEY smoked.

Hopefully the bank will uphold the charge when you put it on their card.

[Gizmo]

TThe gf has an allergy to raw chilies but can happily chow down on cooked ones. I can only assume the cooking process destroys the allergen she has a problem with.

A friend is fine with block cheese..... but if its heated can't have it. He's genuinely not sure if it is to do with something body related or if its a mental thing.

[shopgirl15]

I think I may be allergic to ginger ale. One time I was prepping for surgery I could only drink liquids the day before so I was drinking quite a bit of ginger ale, and I got this crazy rash that started in my hands and then spread up my arms and up to my chest and neck. Weird, and I haven't had much ginger ale since.

I also have a weird reaction to cinnamon - if I smell it I get a headache, can't stand the flavor either. I would think its just me, but my dad has similar reactions.

[Moirae]

I get irritated with people who deny that a particular allergy can exist. Humans can develop allergies to pretty much anything.

I have a severe allergy to tomatoes. Two epi-pens 5 minutes apart buys enough time for rescue to get to me. Last time I had a reaction I wound up on a vent for several hours. Still, my mother remarked that the restaurant manager seemed incredulous that I could be allergic to tomatoes and insisted that it had to be something else. Nope. I've been tested. I'm also allergic to eggplant, but it's not nearly as bad according to the doc. I hate eggplant, so I really don't know.

I also seem to be developing some sort of reaction to latex. This is a very bad thing. I'm not sure if it's an allergy, but I do plan on going back to my allergist as soon as my insurance company says I can.

My husband has an allergy to tomatoes too. He gets a really nasty stomach ache and ends up running to the bathroom for hours. We are lucky he doesnt go in to anaphylactic shock or anything. Even the tiniest bit of tomato makes him feel sick. Though this is new, developed over the last few years. It does suck though because it means he can't eat anything he used to love (like pepperoni pizza and chilli).

And is it wrong that I read both the title and this post in Bill Clinton's voice?

Unless her first time she went unprotected.

lol. Funny thing is, they said it exactly the same way he did on tv.

I have developed lactose intolerance (fairly recently but it was many years in coming. I now have to take lactaid before I eat anything with cheese or milk, including chocolate), and my skin is really sensitive to things like perfumes (makes me itchy) from laundry soap. I also have hay fever, especially around fresh cut grass. The dye used to make pisanka easter eggs gives me hives. I almost forgot, I also have an allergy to shellfish. It makes me itchy, and red, makes my face swell a bit, and makes my body temperature rise.

These are things that I never noticed when I was a kid, but sure have now that I'm an adult. Starting to wonder if it just means I'm getting old lol. I'm 37. But I can trace the lactose intolerance to my mom who had it most of her life. The rest... no idea, but it sure hits me alot stronger now that I'm down south than it did in Canada.

[EricKei]

I have often heard of people both gaining and losing allergies over time --

Mom used to be so badly allergic to cats that she would start sneezing like crazy if one got close to her (which sucks, because she always adored them) -- Once she was somewhere north of 50, the allergy just went away.

My brother used to scarf down honey-mustard pretzels by the truckload...Until one day when he *picked up* one of the treats, and promptly broke out in hives and had trouble breathing o_O

When he was working at DaddyJim's Pizza, he found out -- again, the hard way -- that he is allergic to the powder commonly used inside latex gloves. They ordered powder-free gloves for his use, and then he discovered that he was *also* allergic to the latex itself >_< made it kinda hard to work the makeline, especially seeing as how touching certain foods like peppers made him break out in a rash, too.

[Aethian]

What I don't like is the number of people who don't believe I don't have a sense of smell. I can taste perfectly fine so I *must* be lying about the other sense.

[Cia]

I'm allergic to bananas. It's a minor allergy, to be sure (just a minor throat irritation, no epi-pen or EMTs needed), but I have only ever met two other people with that allergy.

Luckily for me, it is my only food allergy.

My hubby has developed an allergy to bananas - his throat itches.

My daughter is allergic to sulpha drugs and ampecillin.

I have a sensitivity (which I call an allergy cause it's easier) to aspertame - beyond the nasty aftertaste it makes my stomach cramp up and I want to vomit but can't - Diet Mt. Dew made for an awesome (not) Thanksgiving.

[Dentarthurdent]

So what happens now? Is there a special cleaning service to "de-smelll" the room? What has to be done?

This has already been partially answered (the steam-cleaning), but they may also put an ozone machine in the room to help neutralize the odor.

Since everybody's doing it - I'm allergic to equines! Yep, horses, mules, and donkeys so far. Haven't been near a pony or a zebra yet, but I'm sure they make me anaphylactic as well. People are constantly asking me at work if I ride the horses from the stable in the area, and rather than look at them like they're stupid and tell them "I'm almost 300 pounds, and there's a weight limit? Duh?" I just say "I'm allergic." Shuts them right up, even if they don't believe me. And doesn't make them have to come up with a response to "I'm too fat".

I'm allergic to lavender. THAT was a fun one to discover - putting on a big glob of hand lotion and suddenly my eyeballs are too big for my head and I'm breathing through a tiny hole. That one, since it's mainly a topical allergy, I did gradually desensitize myself to by touching and using tiny bits more and more of my grandmother's soap when I lived with her. I wouldn't ingest it again (at least not on purpose). I had a high school teacher I'm firmly convinced tried to kill me with bottled water with it in.

Also Tetracycline. That one was discovered during a bout of bronchitis when the doctor felt like giving me something fancy because it wouldn't interact with my asthma meds. Two days of projectile vomiting and I was back in the ER getting fluids pumped in. It was a bad week. Luckily she saw the light and switched me to something like Amoxycillin.

[Peppergirl]

I would have been a very sad panda if I had been allergic to pot back before I became an old lady and quit.

[Chromatix]

Allergies in general are the result of an immune system, for lack of a better description, getting bored. There's a semi-mainstream school of thought now that keeping children too clean while they're still building up their immune system is a major risk factor for allergies. The rise of modern hygiene certainly seems to parallel the rise in common allergies such as asthma.

Not that knowing that helps people who already have allergies very much, but it's something to think about while raising the next generation.

Intolerances, particularly to lactose, are something completely different. In the case of lactose, it's not having the correct and rather specific gut bacteria to digest it.

[Jester]

Chromatix, George Carlin did a routine on that very matter.

Side note: every now and then I will sneeze for no reason. I'm not sick, not having an allergy attack, I just sneeze. Dust in the air or something. When this happens at work, I just say to the customers at the bar, "I'm allergic to sobriety. But don't worry....I'll be taking my medicine after my shift!"

[Tama]

I saw that routine just recently. He makes a good case for not shying away from germs.


I'm usually glad to get colds, gets my immune systems lots of practice.